Admirals Close Weekend Set with 4-2 Loss at Hershey

HERSHEY, PA – The Hershey Bears scored three unanswered goals to defeat the Norfolk Admirals 4-2 at the Giant Center Sunday evening. Norfolk concludes the three-game weekend set with four of a possible six points in the standings.

It took just 90 seconds for Hershey to get on the board in the game. After a big hit back in the Hershey end, Nathan Walker received a pass at center ice and carried the puck into the zone. Walker wristed a shot from the middle of the ice that beat Norfolk goaltender Igor Bobkov high for the goal. Walker’s first of the season gave the Bears an early 1-0 advantage.

Norfolk countered on a power play strike from Alex Grant. The Admirals won an offensive zone faceoff back to the point to Brett Skinner. Skinner slid a pass to Grant who blasted a slapshot from the blue line that ripped past Hershey netminder David Leggio for the goal. Grant now as four goals on the season, with all four markers coming on the power play.
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The Admirals grabbed the lead at 5:45 of the second period. Brett Skinner settled down the puck at the blue line along the boards and fired a shot toward the Hershey net. The puck skipped off the skate of Zack Stortini and steered into the net for the goal.

Nearly a minute later, Hershey responded with a power play goal. Julien Brouillette broke in the zone on the right wing side and flipped a backhand shot from the low circle that beat Bobkov five-hole tying the game at two.

The Admirals got into some penalty trouble late in the second period, killing off a 5-on-3 situation, and eventually killing off a Mat Clark penalty for closing the hand on the puck. However, just seconds after Norfolk killed the Clark penalty; Hershey scored its third goal of the game off the stick of Peter Leblanc. Leblanc flipped a shot on the right wing that beat a screened Bobkov to give the Bears a 3-2 lead heading into the second break.

Hershey controlled the play in the third period, outshooting the Admirals 13-5. The Bears tacked on an insurance goal with 40 seconds remaining in regulation, as Dane Byers’s shot from the circle sailed over the shoulder of Bobkov to secure the Hershey 4-2 victory.

Leggio earns the win stopping 17 of 19 shots, while Bobkov takes the loss allowing four goals on 38 shots faced in the game.

The Admirals open up another three-game road set on Friday at Albany beginning at 7:00 p.m. Fans can tune-in on 1490 AM The Game, or online at www.1490amthegame.com. Fans can also watch the game online on the AHL Live website at http://ahl.neulion.com/ahl/

Norfolk returns home for a pair of games against the Syracuse Crunch on November 8 & 9 at Scope. Game tickets are now on sale, and are available through the Norfolk Scope Box Office, all Ticketmaster Outlets, charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000 and online at ticketmaster.com.

Stop by the Admirals’ Administrative Offices at Scope, or call (757) 640-1212 Office hours are Monday - Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Fans can also visit us online at www.norfolkadmirals.com

GAME NOTES: Forward Peter Holland who did not play in the Admirals game at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday, was recalled by the Anaheim Ducks prior to Sunday’s game and scored Anaheim's second goal. Holland did dress on Sunday evening for the Ducks in their game at Columbus…Brett Skinner recorded his 200th career assist against Hershey, on the Admirals first goal by Grant on Sunday. Skinner finished the game with two assists.